Eric Wallach chairs the employment practices and litigation group at Kasowitz, which is currently comprised of over 20 partners, counsel and associates. The group regularly handles a variety of complex employment litigation for a wide range of clients, including leading banking, investment management and other financial services institutions, apparel and retail stores, media and entertainment companies, advertising and marketing firms, and manufacturing and industrial corporations.
Mr. Wallach’s areas of in-depth experience include: actions seeking injunctive relief to protect against theft of trade secrets, misappropriation of confidential information, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition; enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements and other restrictive covenants with key executives, including applications for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions; defense of employment discrimination lawsuits in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies, including matters involving alleged discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation, sexual harassment, pregnancy and retaliation; and defense and prosecution of contract, tort and statutory claims, including cases involving the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), federal and state wage and hour laws, the New York Labor Law, and matters implicating defamation, tortious interference and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It should be noted that Mr. Wallach previously chaired the Practicing Law Institute Panel on “Corporate Raiding, Retention & Restructuring.” In addition, Mr. Wallach is included in Chambers USA as a leader in his field for Labor and Employment (New York), has been listed for some years among New York’s Super Lawyers and has been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation - Labor & Employment. Mr. Wallach has also been named one of the country's 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys by Human Resource Executive and selected as a ‘2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment’ by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Wallach has also served as a party-designated arbitrator in several proceedings conducted under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Some of Mr. Wallach's recent prominent representations include serving as:
- Counsel to Ernst & Young LLP ("E&Y"), a preeminent global accounting and consulting firm, in various employment matters relating to the recruitment of high-level executives and the enforceability of non-competition obligations;
- Counsel to Rabobank International, one of the world's 25 largest financial institutions, in defense of employment discrimination and retaliation actions as well as the conducting of internal investigations;
- Counsel to PVH Corp., one of the nation's largest manufacturers, distributors and retailers of nationally known brands of apparel and footwear, in various employment-related matters, including defense of employment discrimination actions and prosecution of a matter involving the theft of trade secrets and company property;
- Counsel to Havas, a French-based global advertising agency in various cases involving trade secrets, restrictive covenants and commercial disputes;
- Counsel to TransPerfect Translations International, Inc., the world's largest privately held language services provider, in multiple matters involving the enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, including applications for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions; and
- Mr. Wallach also serves as regular employment Counsel to a number of leading financial services and investment companies in various employment-related matters, including: Elliott Management, C12 Capital Management, Lord Abbett & Co. LLC, MacKayShields LLC; Needham & Co., Indus Capital and Contrarian Capital.
Mr. Wallach and the employment practices and litigation group are frequently retained by employers and corporate Boards and Special Committees to conduct prompt and efficient internal investigations of alleged officer, employee and director misconduct, and by executive employees to defend their actions before law enforcement and regulatory agencies. They also regularly provide day-to-day employment practices counseling and litigation prevention or avoidance services to numerous firms, internal compliance audits and anti-harassment training, as well as negotiation and drafting of employment, consulting and severance agreements for both companies and senior executives.